


Nothing to Worry About

by echolaliating



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-10 15:55:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6992347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echolaliating/pseuds/echolaliating
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You’ve done this a thousand times now. And there are some thing you already know you dont need to worry about killing you. Perhaps its better to just wait them out. Not bother protecting yourself, not even dodge. I mean, its not like you’re in any real danger. </p><p>From the perspective of an outsider though, this stance on fighting is disconcerting at best</p><p>In which the human does not fight, but also doesn't dodge, or run away, or do anything but stand there and Spare until the battle ends, and what that would look like from the opponents perspective</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Papyrus

Papyrus stood on the edge of Snowdin. Yes, this was truly a much better way to capture the human. An even playing field, giving the human a proper chance to defend themselves.

Although it would be a futile effort (as there was no way The Great Papyrus could lose to such a small creature) the human would have the satisfaction of knowing they tried their very best. They would then begrudgingly shake his hand, declaring that they would train even harder and defeat The Great Papyrus once and for all, resulting in a lifelong, passionate friendship built on respect, admiration, and rivalry!

Yes, this truly was the best way to start a friendship. Undyne had told him so several times, usually as she was crying over the phone about a new human documentary she and Alphys had just watched.

Wowie! Human friendships sure are complicated!

The slight crunch of feet running through the snow caught his attention. It was time to make his dramatic appearance. Good thing he had this fog machine! What could be more dramatic than suddenly appearing out of the fog, challenging an opponent to battle?

-

Papyrus frowned at the human standing before him. This battle was going strangely. The human had easily fallen into his blue-attack-trap, not moving a single inch while blue bones phased through them. 

It was really quite impressive! Facing such an onslaught of attacks without a trace of fear!

But now that they were blue, they continued not moving. And were taking quite a bit of damage for it! While normally, winning a battle so easily would make Papyrus feel extra-especially amazing, attacking an opponent that wasn't fighting back was starting to make Papyrus feel slightly less great than usual. 

Perhaps the human didn't know how to dodge while blue?

“Try holding the Up button to jump!” 

The human, however, continued to stand there, stoically allowing a bunch of incredibly easy to dodge itty-bitty-bones to hit them.

Was his blue attack so strong that he completely overpowered the human? Was he preventing the human from dodging??? Or, perhaps the human believed that if they didn't move, they would remain unseen. An encounter with Doggo might give that impression.

The human finally dodged a bone!....and landed right on another one instead. Papyrus, who was just about to cheer, groaned loudly instead. The human burst into laughter at that, as if they had pulled a great jape on him, but Papyrus did not see what was so funny. 

“Hold up longer to jump higher! Jeez!!”

And yet the human continued to just! Stand! There!! Were they colorblind? Were humans basically dogs?? Papyrus would have to ask Sans for some of the dog food (??????) he kept in his room. After all, a good host would never let their guests starve while they wait in the ~~garage~~ Capture Zone, even if that same good host was really more of a captor and the guest was actually a prisoner. Even captors have standards, you know.

“Give up, or face my special attack!!” Papyrus sincerely hoped he would have the chance to use his special attack, it had been so long and it was really quite cool! 

Almost too late, Papyrus realized the human had one HP left, and a bone was coming very close to turning that into 0 HP. He quickly swapped the deadly attack bone out for one of his extra-special, non-lethal, non-attack bones.

“You're too weak, I was easily able to capture you!” Papyrus bragged, posing victoriously. “I will now send you to the capture zone!!”

The human instantly fainted, causing Papyrus to rush over to catch them. Papyrus picked up the very small human and carried them home. They sighed contently, curling up against his armor and latching their arms around his neck like a koala hanging off of a tree….Or Sans.

He stood outside the garage, weighing his options. He could bring the human inside. They could sleep in his incredibly cool car bed, and the two of them could have an awesome hangout. It would be fun, and Papyrus might actually make a new friend this time, unlike the other attempted hangouts that always ended prematurely. No one would have to be captured, and they could all have fun together.

But no. He couldn't be friends with this human, no matter how lonely he was or how much they wanted to hang out. The human would have to be brought to Asgore and break the barrier with all the other humans. 

Papyrus sighed, opening the garage door, and gingerly set the human down on the dog bed on the floor, behind the bars, then went inside to find some dog food for the human to eat when they woke up.

All the new friends he would make after being the hero who saved all monsters from imprisonment would make up for it! ….Right?

He had to capture the human. He had no other choice.

-

The human had escaped. Which, really, was quite rude of them, leaving without so much as a note telling him where they went. He would have to chide them for worrying their captor so. And improve the facilities so that next time they wouldn't even want to leave.

Luckily, they were waiting for him at the same place they had their battle only moments ago, giggling as though they had bested him in a game of some sort.

“I suppose this proves what I said. We really are bound together. Two bones in the skeletal anatomy of fate!! That's how you appear here now, even though it's very impossible for you to escape. Amazing! I feel a sincere…. wait a second! I still have to capture you! Whoopsie-doopsie!”

The battle went exactly as the former did. Hopefully the human would give up after being defeated so easily twice in a row, Papyrus thought, as he carefully carried the unconscious human once again to the capture zone, laying them carefully on the dog bed, and searched for something to help improve the facilities a bit. Perhaps they didn’t like the dog food, which he couldn’t blame them for really, so he’d have to find something to make it a little more appetizing. What do humans even eat?

-

When the human escaped a third time, met him in the exact same spot, and again lost without even attempting to fight or dodge, Papyrus found himself becoming very exasperated. He had other things he wanted to do today! His puzzles needed checked on! He needed to check and make sure Sans did something today! And he had a training session planned with Undyne later today!

Perhaps the human simply needed somewhere to stay but didn't want to ask. Which was fine! They could have a sleepover before he captured them and they went to the capitol. They could strategize with his figures and he would make them spaghetti and they might even like it! (For once)

But he couldn't do any of that if they kept running away before he had a chance to even ask them about it! He decided to leave a note, telling the human that they were welcome to stay, if they would only ask.

But really, Papyrus wasn't sure if all of this was even worth it anymore. Who knew how long the human could keep this up. Papyrus might wind up spending the rest of his life chasing and fighting them, over and over, fighting the same battle again and again in an endless loop.

And really, the human wasn’t doing anything to harm anyone. Was there really any need to stop them?

Maybe, he could just...NOT capture the human and let them go on their way. 

 

Maybe, the human was tired of fighting too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this done for ages but I kept holding off, because I kept feeling like it wasnt good enough yet. But I decided to just go ahead and do it and let this one go.
> 
> I meant to post the Toriel one first, but after writing this one, i realized that it needed a lot of work first. I really enjoyed writing from Papyrus' PoV, it was a lot easier than i originally assumed it would be


	2. Toriel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The human faces off with Toriel

Toriel was practically racing down the basement stairs to the doorway that separated the Ruins from the rest of the Underground. If she was quick enough, she could destroy the door before the child even knew it existed, leading them to believe there was no exit after all.

A lie it would be, but a lie that would save a life.

She should have done this a long time ago. It was selfish of her, allowing this gateway to the human’s death to continue existing, in hopes of...what? The hope of rekindling what was already destroyed beyond repair? That someone would come looking for her, begging her forgiveness? (she never would, there was just too much to forgive) That she could go back, as if none of this had happened?

She couldn’t waver any longer, couldn’t keep sitting passively by hoping that maybe this time, no one would die.

Too many had died because of her selfishness.

The echoing of footsteps coming from behind her should be a surprise, but it wasn’t. Of course the human didn’t stay as they were told. Of course the human would find her before she successfully destroyed the door, and of course the human wanted to leave.

Sometimes she wonders if time had stopped for her, making her repeat the same mistakes again and again.

“Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning.” Toriel continued on, refusing to look back at the human who continued following her, their steps echoing through the dark hall at a steady pace, slow enough to not overtake her but never enough to lose sight of her. She would have only one chance to do this, now that the human knew where the exit was.

The human had no idea what was in store for them in the rest of the underground. They no doubt expected to be able to talk their way out of every fight. A sweet thought, one that she wanted to believe in. But, sometimes there was nothing you could say, nothing you could do, to end a fight peacefully. And even if every other monster in the underground could be talked out of fighting, Asgore himself would never accept mercy, either from them, or for himself.

Maybe, if the human got a taste of what a true fight would be like, they could be scared into staying. And if...if they were willing to do what it will take to leave the Ruins, maybe they could be strong enough to survive after all. 

“You want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself... Prove to me you are strong enough to survive.”

The human made no attempt to talk her out of it, perhaps recognizing her resolve. But they did not fight back either

They didn’t even to protect themselves. They stood still, and allowed themselves to be hit by wave after wave of flames. The light from the flames cast heavy shadows over the human’s face, making them look completely expressionless. They watched her silently, as if they were waiting for something to happen.

[SPARE]

Still no attack. Toriel threw another volley of fireballs at the human, and once again, the human made no attempt to avoid her attacks. 

[SPARE]

This human had no self preservation, no survival instinct at all. Toriel was more certain than ever that they could not be allowed to leave. 

Their HP trickled away, their life drained out of them. And yet.

[SPARE]

It would be impressive, how committed the human was to not fighting, even in the literal line of fire. But all she could see, with the human’s life draining away, with that look that was achingly familiar, hands clenched stiffly, brows furrowed in concentration, was another child she once knew, too weak to move, and yet still so strong, so determined until the very end.

She couldn’t bear to be looked at with that expression anymore.

“Stop looking at me that way!”

But the human refused.

[SPARE]

Toriel subtly maneuvered the flames away from the human, trying to cause as little damage as possible while still giving the appearance of attacking

[SPARE]

The human didn’t even attempt to heal themselves (she knew for a fact that they had at least one healing item).

[SPARE]

The human only had two HP left. If they were hit just one more time, they would die. Surely, so close to death, they would start fighting back.

[SPARE]

Toriel was stunned. The faith the child had in her was staggering. To be believed in so intensely was…terrifying. The human had entrusted their life in her hands, gave her the chance to kill them without even blinking. She can’t remember the last time someone trusted her so resolutely.

She attempted to attack, but stopped the fireballs right as they were about to hit the human and swerved them around the human, her previous subtlety lost in Toriel’s desperate need to keep the human alive.

The child showed no fear, not even for a second. They didn’t even look surprised. They just smiled knowingly, as though they knew all along she would never kill them.

[SPARE]

She couldn’t do this.

[SPARE]

She couldn’t let the human leave the Ruins.

[SPARE]

But she couldn’t fight the human, not unless she wanted to kill them.

[SPARE]

She was trapped.

[SPARE]

Trapped in a stalemate, neither party willing to give up, but also not willing to attack. The battle wouldn’t end until someone folded.

[SPARE]

“I know you want to go home, but...”

[SPARE]

“But please... Go upstairs now.”

[SPARE]

“I promise I will take good care of you here.”

[SPARE]

“I know we do not have much, but...”

[SPARE]

“We can have a good life here.”

[SPARE]

“Why are you making this so difficult?”

[SPARE]  
“Please, go upstairs.”

[SPARE]  
She couldn’t do this anymore. In the end, she couldn’t even save one human.

“No, I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down there. The RUINS are very small once you get used to them.” Toriel sighed. “It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations... My loneliness... My fear... For you, my child... I will put them aside.” 

She wrapped her arms tightly around the child, one last time. “Good-bye my child.”

Perhaps a child that determined could convince the rest of the monsters of the Underground to spare them. They had managed to get this far without killing or being killed. A will that unmovable might change even the most hardened of hearts.

It was a childish, naïve thing to hope, but she clung to it fiercely. The alternative was too terrible to think about.

She took one last, lingering look at the child, then quickly turned away, refusing to look back. 

She wouldn’t see the child again, regardless of their fate. It was best to move on, prepare for the next human to fall.

Besides, someone needed to take care of the flowers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My writing process is apparently write a chapter in one sitting, and then spend 2 weeks editing.
> 
> This chapter was tough, this fight was one of the most emotional moments in the game and I just couldn't get the right impact. 
> 
> Fun fact, while I was re-playing this fight to help me remember what happens in it for this fic, Toriel actually killed me. I knew she could, but you basically have to try to die for it to work. I found it pretty ironic that the one time she kills me is when I'm preparing for my fic on her NOT killing you


End file.
